Over 21 Million New Types of Malware Created in Q2 2015, Report Finds

A recent report by Panda Security revealed a record high in the creation of new malware samples, reaching more than 21 million new threats over the course of just three months.

In the second quarter of 2015, the Spanish security firm saw an average of 230,000 new types of malware each day – an increase of 43 percent compared to the same period last year.

“A large number of the new types of [malware] are mainly variants or mutations of previously known malware, and cybercriminals are multiplying the types of malware so as to avoid being detected by the antivirus laboratories,” read the report.

Panda Security noted the most common malware detected continues to be Trojans, accounting for 71 percent of all samples witnessed during Q2. The second most common types of malware created are traditional viruses, although they only accounted for 11 percent of all samples.

Source: PandaLabs Q2 2015 Report

Additional findings from the report included the countries with the highest infection rates. China registered the highest percentage of infections (47 percent), followed by Turkey (43 percent) and Peru (42 percent).

“The rate of infections on a global level was 32.21%”

Meanwhile, countries with the lowest rates of infection included Sweden (21 percent), Norway (22 percent) and Japan (23 percent). The US and the UK were also among the countries with a lower than global rate of infection at 32 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

The report also highlights some of the most noteworthy security incidents that likely had an impact on Q2 statistics.

“Cryptolocker is still roaming freely, causing havoc, especially for companies that are at the mercy of cybercriminals because many of them choose to pay the ransom to retrieve their information,” read the report.

With attacks increasing in sophistication and frequency, the firm urges businesses to reinforce their systems and security solutions.

“Now is the time to adopt advanced defenses that block and detect any type of intrusion, and that gather forensic information on any type of attack on workstations and servers,” the report concludes.